


Before Dawn

by NorthernGhost



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst, Based on a fic, non-canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:00:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23905801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernGhost/pseuds/NorthernGhost
Summary: Aloy finally has everything she hadn't allowed herself to hope for before: a wife, a family, a child, a life not in constant threat of death and destruction... everything has finally fallen into place.Everything has been built to last... right?A "what if?" alternate ending toA New Dawnby imagine0314.
Relationships: Aloy & Elisabet Sobeck, Aloy/Talanah Khane Padish
Comments: 15
Kudos: 19





	Before Dawn

**Author's Note:**

  * For [imagine0314](https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagine0314/gifts).
  * Inspired by [A New Dawn](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22311853) by [imagine0314](https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagine0314/pseuds/imagine0314). 



> I don't know where this came from, but it popped into my head while reading [A New Dawn's](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22311853/chapters/56632021) ending and... well, it is certainly not what imagine0314 was intending.
> 
> But, after informing them of this and receiving their blessing, here it is.
> 
> If you would like to not be scarred or ask yourself "what the fuck, man?" I suggest reading the actual ending, because this is nothing like it.
> 
> I apologize in advance.

[after some warm, wholesome content...]  


  


"Of course, GAIA, why wouldn't I have had you there? You're her _grandmother_ , and you helped bring her into the world. I want you there for every big moment in her life, for as long as you can stand this body" she said, looking down adoringly at her Little Spark.  


The machine woman smiled widely.  


"While I admit this form felt...constricting at first, I admit I find it rather enjoyable now. I have grown accustomed to it, as you have grown accustomed to yours.”  


Aloy paused for a moment, shaking her head as she glanced up at GAIA, once again.  


“I mean… I know a lot of things changed with the pregnancy, but… I think I could get used to it.”  


“I would not.”  


The redhead’s smile began to fade as she searched the still-smiling face of the AI woman beside her, something heavy appearing in her stomach as she felt her heart rate begin to accelerate.  


“W-what do you mean, GAIA?”  


“You’ve lived a fabulous dream across several lifetimes,” she replied, one hand reaching toward the redhead’s face and gently laying alongside it, “but don’t you think it’s time to wake up?”  


Aloy’s heart beat began to skyrocket as she turned away from the AI woman, glancing around the room, only to find that all sound from the others seemed to have disappeared, and while they continued to move, none of them acknowledged the two of them or GAIA’s words.  


“G-GAIA?”  


“I believe you must.”  


“What are you saying?!”  


The AI continued to smile serenely as her thumb ran across Aloy’s cheek gently, only for her other hand to reach up and take the other side of her face. A moment later, GAIA seemingly shoved her backward with a good amount of force, but instead of tumbling off her seat, as she expected, Aloy found herself falling back onto a softer surface that had most definitely not been there a moment ago.  


Her limbs flailed for a moment before she panicked and reached to clutch for Miriam at her chest, only to find the space empty. Panic began to shoot through her as she desperately tried to sit up, but something seemed wrapped around her waist and her left arm, holding her in place. She blinked rapidly, suddenly realizing that the room had become much darker, as she glanced down, desperately trying to free herself while also searching for signs of the small head of red hair.  


As her gaze settled over herself, her panic did not subside, as she found no trace of the small infant nearby, but also no other figures, either. She tugged forcefully with her left arm, finally feeling it come free as she sat bolt upright, staring down at her waist to find what appeared to be a sheet wrapped around her legs, tucked under her and pinning her in place.  


The redhead glanced around the room, once again, finding that it was dark enough she could barely make out anything else except for what appeared to be a desk before a partially open window, a faintly orange light that was also distinctly not sunlight spilling through it. With a moment or two of struggle, she managed to tear the sheet from around herself, nearly falling out of what must have been a bed in the process.  


As she scrambled to her feet, she whirled around, feeling among the sheets, as if she had somehow misplaced Miriam amidst them, but they were empty. Her chest began to heave as she took a step back from the bed, her hands reaching up to press against her temples as she shook her head.  


“No… no…”  


She forcefully closed her eyes, squeezing them shut tightly for a moment or two before opening them, once again, but the scene had not changed. There was no apartment full of smiling faces and an infant swaddled in a blanket, just a strange, dark room.  


She whirled around toward the desk, quickly rushing over to it and searching across its surface for several moments, her hand coming to rest on a small, rectangular box to one side, her fingers instinctually wrapping around it as she lifted it, a thin cord pulling from the bottom as she did. Her gaze turned to the window beside her, her feet quickly bringing her to it as she glanced out the somewhat dirty glass behind a simple, beige curtain. The orange glow seemed to come from a lamp a few yards outside the window, but she also took in the rest of the building it illuminated, the structure several stories tall with multiple balconies spaced at regular intervals along it.  


“N-no, this… this isn’t…”  


Her shaking fingers reached for her right ear, but she didn’t find the familiar metallic triangle beside it, either. A sound somewhere between a shaking sigh and a sob escaped her as she whirled about the room, her eyes just barely adjusted enough to notice a door to the left of the bed, and she rushed over to it, throwing it wide. The door bounced off a wall to the left, swinging back toward her, but the redhead shouldered it aside as she staggered into what appeared to be a narrow hallway. Her gaze swept over it for several moments before she caught sight of the orange light reflecting off a mirror through a doorway a few feet ahead on the left.  


She quickly rushed toward it, throwing the door open and stepping into the room, skidding to a halt before a sink with a mirror fixed to the wall above it.  


The redhead that stared back at her from the mirror was immediately familiar, but something made her run her hand through the shorter hairstyle, a good deal of the sweat-soaked locks stuck to her neck, but those that still hung loose stopped a few inches above her shoulders. The top of her outfit highlighted in the mirror was a simple, sleeveless black design with thin straps over her shoulders.  


“No, no…”  


She quickly glanced down at the rectangular device in her hands, her fingers tapping at its surface and instinctually bringing it to life. A moment later, she found herself holding it to her ear as she stared back into the bloodshot, hazel eyes in the mirror before her. A chiming sound rang from the device for a moment or two before it came to a stop, a very groggy voice replacing it.  


“Hello?”  


“T-Talanah, something happened, she’s gone I don’t know what happened, I was talking to GAIA and then just—” the redhead began, pacing anxiously about the small room.  


“Holy shit, slow down,” the voice interrupted, still clearly tired but now laced with something between confusion and irritation. “Lis, you’re not making any sense. Are you okay? What did you call me?”  


“I-I… the baby, I don’t know where she is.”  


“ _What_ baby?”  


“Miri—”  


As the redhead came to a stop before the sink and lifted her gaze to stare back into the reflection, she paused, her mouth hanging open, for a moment. She tried to recall what she had been saying, but the details seemed to be slipping away, what she could have sworn were clear images of faces, the sounds of voices, and names on the tip of her tongue were nothing more than vague impressions, at best.  


There was one that remained, though.  


“Sorry, just a… dream… I guess.”  


“You scared me half to death, kiddo. You going to be okay?”  


“Think so.”  


“Okay, call me after dawn sometime, okay?”  


“Sure thing.”  


“Love you.”  


“Love you, too.”  


With that, the redhead slowly lowered the phone from beside her ear, her gaze turning down toward it to find the name emblazoned across the screen in simple, white letters.  


The one that had remained.  


Miriam.  


Lis slowly tapped the end call button and the screen went dark, prompting her to raise her head to look into the mirror once again.  


For a moment, she could have sworn the face looking back at her wasn’t hers, but who else could it have been?  


As she blinked slowly, a phrase suddenly found its way to her lips, whispered barely louder than a breath.  


“Time to wake up.”


End file.
